Cerity Partners LLC Increases Position in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 129.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,845 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 7,819 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,190,221 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $408,836,000 after acquiring an additional 47,365 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 922,920 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $63,229,000 after acquiring an additional 16,830 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $55,141,000 after acquiring an additional 96,720 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Moelis & Company by 4.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 755,541 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $42,960,000 after purchasing an additional 29,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Moelis & Company during the third quarter worth about $49,017,000. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Moelis & Company from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.83.

Moelis & Company Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MC traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $75.25. 422,777 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,883. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $81.60. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.25 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.83.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%. The company had revenue of $273.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.15) EPS. Moelis & Company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 452.83%.

Moelis & Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.